RESEARCH DATA:

This ikat textile from the collection is a pair of Bagobo ikat trousers for men, commonly referred to as the saroar or sawal. The woven base textile is decorated with fine appliqué, beadwork (pang-o-lo-bayan), and embroidery.
Bagobo ikat is called binud-bud (Pastor-Roces, 1991). According to Pastor-Roces (as cited in Terando, 2023), binud-bud is a process of designing a garment by tying knots on abaca or cotton threads prior to dyeing. The tied sections of the threads later form the ikat designs on the woven textile (Reyes, 1992).
Bagobo appliqué work is commonly applied to the armpit-encircling sections, sleeves, and lower borders of the ompak (shirt), as well as to the hems of the saroar (Pastor-Roces, 1991). This technique uses patches and strips of cloth that vary in color. The complete appliqué design is known as the tutuk. Common patterns and elements of the tutuk include zigzag motifs and the red cotton cloth appliqué called tugur (Pastor-Roces, 1991). According to Reyes (1992), the use of appliqué in Bagobo garments resulted from outside contact through trade. Over time, appliqué began to replace embroidery, which is now more commonly observed on older Bagobo textiles (Reyes, 1992).
Specific to this pair of trousers are the human-like and X motifs sewn with beads onto the textile. These motifs both contrast with and visually integrate into the intricate designs of the ikat base textile.